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Ryan Kesler knows what was missing in Anaheim this season and what Randy Carlyle could bring to the bench if he supplants fired head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Kesler was with the Manitoba Moose when Carlyle guided that AHL club to a 44-26-7-3 AHL record and advanced to the Western Conference final with a roster that also featured future Vancouver Canucks in Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows, the late Rick Rypien and Alex Auld. And while Carlyle would then have NHL stops in Anaheim and Toronto — including a Stanley Cup championship with the Ducks in 2007 — he was fired from both positions and replaced by Boudreau in Anaheim.

“I remember that he probably played me 30 minutes a night,” Kesler chuckled Wednesday of scoring 30 goals for the 60-year-old Windsor, Ont., native during that NHL lockout season. “He was a very good bench coach and very detailed. We worked on faceoff plays every practice and on the power play every practice — things that you really need to work on everyday.”

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The Ducks were a wacky bunch this season. They won just one of their first 10 starts and Boudreau was rumoured to be in hot water. Utica Comets coach Travis Green’s name popped up as a possible replacement, but the Ducks found their game. In a 17-game stretch from late December to early February, they would lose just four times and would top the Pacific Division.

However, losing Game 7 on home ice for the fourth-consecutive spring — a 2-1 loss to Nashville on April 27 in the conference quarter-final — cost Boudreau his job two days later. But the noted players’ coach didn’t last long on the open market. He was hired by Minnesota on May 7 and the 61-year-old signed a four-year, US$12 million contract.

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So, what do the Ducks need? A mentor? A hard ass?

“We just need a good bench coach, a coach that does things on the fly and makes changes during the game and not just between periods,” said Kesler. “We need a coach that holds everybody accountable — not just certain guys. We need a coach to come in and just be a good motivator and do what a coach does.

Randy Carlyle could bring experience and accountability that the Ducks need.

“The biggest thing is we need a good bench coach for strategies. But it’s not my job to pick a coach because there are a lot of good ones out there.”

That list would include Green. The former Ducks centre has reportedly been interviewed for vacancies in Anaheim and Calgary. Canucks assistant coach Glen Gulutzan has also interviewed to replace fired Flames coach Bob Hartley.

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When reached Wednesday, Green declined comment on the reports because he doesn’t want to compromise the process and speak publicly about any team’s shortcomings or trumpet his attributes. His work can do the talking.

Green, 45, guided the Comets to the Calder Cup final last season and used 49 players to get the Canucks affiliate back to the AHL playoffs this year. The Castlegar native has a year remaining on his contract, which includes an out-clause to pursue another position, and would command interest in Calgary because he coached Flames winger Hunter Shinkaruk over the course of two seasons and general manager Brad Treliving may consider a first-year NHL coach.

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The Flames have 10 players 24 years old or younger, five who are 21 or younger and seven restricted free agents. They have a need for a teacher and disciplinarian and have interviewed former Edmonton coach Ralph Krueger and New Jersey assistant coach Geoff Ward. Green turned down an opportunity to join Mike Johnston as an assistant coach in Pittsburgh in 2014 because of franchise loyalty.

A former NHL centre, Travis Green has paid his coaching dues in the WHL and the AHL.

In an earlier interview with The Province, Green said that after 970 career NHL games with fives teams — including the Ducks — and three WHL seasons behind the bench in Portland and three AHL seasons in Utica, he’s prepared to run an NHL club.

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“I think I’m ready,” he stressed. “Getting to the AHL final (2015) was very gratifying and it wasn’t like we had an all-star team, we were just very committed and had a good goaltender (Jacob Markstrom). I’m proud of our group this year in the same kind of way because we had a lot of injuries and adversity and had to find a way to get things done.

“There were nights on the bench where we really had to be on our toes more than normal.”

OF NOTE: As expected on decision day, Columbus confirmed Wednesday that it won’t relinquish a second-round pick next month for the hiring of former Canucks coach John Tortorella, who was fired May 1, 2014, and is still being paid by Vancouver. The Blue Jackets can defer the pick to 2017 or 2018 and that compensation loophole has since been closed. Teams must now grant permission for a coach to be interviewed, but there is no compensation.

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